# 2023 United States gubernatorial elections

United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 7, 2023, in the states of Kentucky and Mississippi, with an election having occurred in Louisiana on October 14. These elections form part of the 2023 United States elections. The last regular gubernatorial elections for all three states were in 2019.
In Louisiana, term-limited incumbent John Bel Edwards was succeeded by Jeff Landry, flipping the seat from Democratic to Republican control. In Kentucky, Democrat Andy Beshear won re-election to a second term. In Mississippi, Republican Tate Reeves won re-election to a second term.

## Partisan composition

Going into the election, there were 26 Republican governors and 24 Democratic governors in the United States. This class of governors was made up of 1 Republican and 2 Democrats. Democrats were defending two governorships in states Donald Trump won in 2020 (Kentucky and Louisiana).

## Election predictions

Several sites and individuals published predictions of competitive seats. These predictions looked at factors such as the strength of the incumbent (if the incumbent is running for re-election), the strength of the candidates, and the partisan leanings of the state (reflected in part by the state's Cook Partisan Voting Index rating). The predictions assigned ratings to each seat, with the rating indicating a party's predicted advantage in winning that seat.
Most election predictors use:
* "tossup": no advantage
* "tilt" (used by some predictors): advantage that is not quite as strong as "lean"
* "lean": slight advantage
* "likely": significant, but surmountable, advantage
* "safe" or "solid": near-certain chance of victory
| State | PVI | Incumbent | Last race | Cook October 23, 2023 | IE September 1, 2023 | Sabato October 16, 2023 | ED November 7, 2023 | Result |
| Kentucky | R+16 | Andy Beshear | 49.2% D | Lean D | Tilt D | Lean D | Lean D | Beshear 52.5% D |
| Louisiana | R+12 | John Bel Edwards (term-limited) | 51.3% D | Lean R (flip) | Likely R (flip) | Likely R (flip) | Safe R (flip) | Landry 51.6% R (flip) |
| Mississippi | R+11 | Tate Reeves | 51.9% R | Lean R | Lean R | Likely R | Likely R | Reeves 50.9% R |

## Race summary

| State | Incumbent | Party | First elected | Result | General election |
| Kentucky | Andy Beshear | Democratic | 2019 | Incumbent re-elected. | ▌Y Andy Beshear (Democratic) 52.5% ▌Daniel Cameron (Republican) 47.5% |
| Louisiana | John Bel Edwards | Democratic | 2015 | Incumbent term-limited. Republican gain. | ▌Y Jeff Landry (Republican) 51.6% ▌Shawn Wilson (Democratic) 25.9% ▌Stephen Waguespack (Republican) 5.9% ▌John Schroder (Republican) 5.3% Others ▌Hunter Lundy (Independent) 4.9% ▌Danny Cole (Democratic) 2.6% ▌Sharon Hewitt (Republican) 1.7% ▌Benjamin Barnes (Independent) 0.5% ▌Patrick "Dat" Barthel (Republican) 0.4% ▌Richard Nelson (Republican) 0.3% ▌Jeffrey Istre (Independent) 0.3% ▌Xavier Ellis (Republican) 0.2% ▌Keitron Gagnon (Independent) 0.1% ▌Xan John (Republican) 0.1% ▌Frank Scurlock (Independent) 0.1% |
| Mississippi | Tate Reeves | Republican | 2019 | Incumbent re-elected. | ▌Y Tate Reeves (Republican) 50.9% ▌Brandon Presley (Democratic) 47.7% ▌Gwendolyn Gray (Independent) 1.4% |

## Closest states

States where the margin of victory was between 1% and 5%:
* Mississippi, 3.24%
States where the margin of victory was between 5% and 10%:
* Kentucky, 5.07%
Red denotes states won by Republicans. Blue denotes states won by Democrats.

## Kentucky

Governor Andy Beshear was elected in 2019 with 49.2% of the vote and ran for re-election to a second term. He won the Democratic nomination with little opposition & won the general election.
Attorney general Daniel Cameron, former US Ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft, state auditor Mike Harmon, and agriculture commissioner Ryan Quarles all ran for the Republican gubernatorial nomination. Cameron was supported by former president Donald Trump, and led every poll leading to the primary, with Craft and Quarles trailing behind him. Cameron won the Republican nomination, becoming the first African American major party gubernatorial nominee in Kentucky's history.
Democratic primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Andy Beshear (incumbent) | 176,589 | 91.3 |
| | Democratic | Geoff Young | 9,865 | 5.1 |
| | Democratic | Peppy Martin | 6,913 | 3.6 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 193,367 | 100.0 |
Republican primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Daniel Cameron | 144,576 | 47.7 |
| | Republican | Ryan Quarles | 65,718 | 21.7 |
| | Republican | Kelly Craft | 52,170 | 17.2 |
| | Republican | Eric Deters | 17,464 | 5.8 |
| | Republican | Mike Harmon | 7,797 | 2.6 |
| | Republican | Alan Keck | 7,317 | 2.4 |
| | Republican | David Cooper | 2,282 | 0.8 |
| | Republican | Jacob Clark | 1,900 | 0.6 |
| | Republican | Robbie Smith | 1,388 | 0.5 |
| | Republican | Bob DeVore | 931 | 0.3 |
| | Republican | Johnny Rice | 726 | 0.2 |
| | Republican | Dennis Ormerod | 696 | 0.2 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 302,965 | 100.0 |
2023 Kentucky gubernatorial election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Democratic | Andy Beshear (incumbent)Jacqueline Coleman (incumbent) | 694,482 | 52.53% | +3.33% |
| | Republican | Daniel CameronRobby Mills | 627,457 | 47.46% | −1.37% |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 82 | 0.01% | N/A |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 1,322,021 | 100.00% | |
| | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold |

## Louisiana

Governor John Bel Edwards was re-elected to a second term in 2019 with 51.3% of the vote. He was term-limited by the Louisiana Constitution in 2023, and could not seek reelection for a third consecutive term.
Louisiana utilizes a jungle primary system. Republican Attorney General Jeff Landry was considered the frontrunner. Other candidates included state senator Sharon Hewitt, and Treasurer John Schroder. Democratic Secretary of Transportation Shawn Wilson also ran to succeed Edwards.
Landry won with over 51% of the vote in the primary, becoming the first person to win a Louisiana gubernatorial election without a runoff since Bobby Jindal in 2011. Landry easily prevailed over several Republican opponents and the leading Democratic candidate.
2023 Louisiana gubernatorial election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Jeff Landry | 547,827 | 51.56% |
| | Democratic | Shawn Wilson | 275,525 | 25.93% |
| | Republican | Stephen Waguespack | 62,287 | 5.86% |
| | Republican | John Schroder | 56,654 | 5.33% |
| | Independent | Hunter Lundy | 52,165 | 4.91% |
| | Democratic | Danny Cole | 27,662 | 2.60% |
| | Republican | Sharon Hewitt | 18,468 | 1.74% |
| | Independent | Benjamin Barnes | 5,190 | 0.49% |
| | Republican | Dat Barthel | 4,426 | 0.42% |
| | Republican | Richard Nelson (withdrawn) | 3,605 | 0.34% |
| | Independent | Jeffery Istre | 3,400 | 0.32% |
| | Republican | Xavier Ellis | 1,734 | 0.16% |
| | Independent | Keitron Gagnon | 1,260 | 0.12% |
| | Republican | Xan John | 1,164 | 0.11% |
| | Independent | Frank Scurlock | 1,131 | 0.11% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 1,062,498 | 100.00% |
| | Republican gain from Democratic | Republican gain from Democratic | Republican gain from Democratic | Republican gain from Democratic |

## Mississippi

Governor Tate Reeves was elected in 2019 with 51.9% of the vote and ran for re-election to a second term.
Democrat Brandon Presley, Mississippi Public Service Commissioner for the Northern District, was the Democratic nominee to challenge Reeves.
Reeves won re-election.
Republican primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Tate Reeves (incumbent) | 281,213 | 74.7 |
| | Republican | John Witcher | 66,698 | 17.7 |
| | Republican | David Grady Hardigree | 28,561 | 7.6 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 376,472 | 100.0 |
Democratic primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Brandon Presley | 196,307 | 100.0 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 196,307 | 100.0 |
2023 Mississippi gubernatorial election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Republican | Tate Reeves (incumbent) | 418,233 | 50.94 | –0.97 |
| | Democratic | Brandon Presley | 391,614 | 47.70 | +0.87 |
| | Independent | Gwendolyn Gray (withdrawn) | 11,153 | 1.36 | N/A |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 821,000 | 100.00 | |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |